my thanks to all for the advice and suggestions. last night i was finally able to get my friend to come over. we "washed" my hair with waterless shampoo and then she drenched it with "leave in" conditioner. it took her an hour and a half, but she was finally able to detangle it. i was so afraid that i was going to have to get it cut off that i was crying. while she was working on it, she said at one point that she was going to have to clip it. i was so upset. then i realized what she meant was that she needed a hair clip to move the part she was finished with out of the way. what relief. after she finished, we did the waterless shampoo again. just before it was completely dried, i brushed it out again, and then i french braided it. thanks to all of you who answered my cry for help, i didn't have to get it all cut off and i now can take care of it. muchas gracias! merci beaucoup! danke schoen! mil grazie! arigato! takk!

<font color=purple>it is only with the heart that one sees rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.</font color=purple>